Crime of the Century (serial)


*The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective.*

Crime of the Century was the third story of Season 27 of Doctor Who. It was written by Andrew Cartmel and directed by Alan Wareing and features Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor and Julia Sawalha as Katie Tollinger.

This story is notable for introducing Katie Tollinger played by Julia Sawalha as the new companion.

Synopsis

The year is 1990. In London, safe cracker Katie Tollinger breaks into a house — and finds more than the family jewels.

Plot

Part One

In the present day, a young woman in an expensive designer dress, Katie, walks up an illuminated driveway toward a mansion. She exudes confidence as she rings the bell and is swiftly let through into a lavish party. Katie moves through the crowd, with ease, finding her way to the staircase and making her way upstairs. Inside the master bedroom, she puts on a pair of long leather gloves, before removing an expensive painting off the wall, revealing an industrial safe. She smiles and sets about cracking it, which she does in a matter of seconds. Upon opening the safe she says that inside... is the Doctor, sitting in the safe, waiting for her.

The Doctor holds up a metal box and tells Katie that the back pearl necklace, that she was trying to steal, is inside it. She asks the Doctor to hand it over and he obliges. She then removes the necklace from the box, before placing the empty back into the safe. She then helps the Doctor get out of the safe, as he's a little stuck, before she slams the door shut, locks it, and places the painting back over it.

On their way out of the house but during this, an alarm is triggered. Soon, security begins chasing after them, with several German Shepards. The two manage to make it out of the house and shake off the security guards. Katie tells the Doctor that she'll bring her car round to him. We then see Katie getting the car... thinking for a moment and then driving off in it. The Doctor waits for her, checking his watch, before realising she's not coming. He then whistles softly and crosses the street toward a police box.

The following night, Katie stands in an alleyway, dressed in all black holding a large duffel bag of items. She opens the bag and checks it, pulling out a very familiar sword. The Doctor appears behind her, asking what possible reason she has for having that sword in her possession. Katie asks how he knows what it is but the Doctor is vague, just mentioning something about it being from Mars. Katie begins to apologise for abandoning the Doctor the previous night, but she suddenly feels the barrel of a gun aimed at the back of her head and looks around to see a very imposing man holding it. The Doctor tries to talk him down and asks Katie if this man is the one she's been waiting for. Katie says she has no idea who he is, and the Doctor suggests, not so subtly, that Katie use the sword. Katie does so and nearly kills the man, only stopping at just rendering him unconscious, because the Doctor stops her. Soon after, another man comes from the shadows, the man Katie was expecting... an older Sam Tollinger, who is surprised but overjoyed at seeing the Doctor and quickly explains that Katie is his daughter.

Sam explains to Katie that the Doctor is... the Doctor, the man whom he's always told her about. Katie is surprised to realise that he's a real person, and the Doctor just elusively responds by claiming that he could be entirely fictional. Sam explains that since he last saw the Doctor, most of his stranger possessions were seized from him by UNIT, to which he was highly compensated, but over the years, they became declassified and most of them managed to find their way to the black market. Most of them were bought by members of the aristocracy and that's what Katie's been stealing back, ever since. However, one item, the jewelled egg was taken off UNIT by the Government and they've been unable to track it down. Sam asks for the Doctor's help in getting his property back, and the Doctor agrees. The Doctor then looks in the duffel bag and pulls out the necklace. He hands it to Katie and tells her that it belonged to her mother, and she should have it. Katie cries, upon seeing it, and hugs the Doctor thanking him.

The trio then roam through the backstreets, as Sam catches up with the Doctor about their family history, since they last met. The Doctor takes a keen interest and says that he's there because he noticed that they'd been a series of thefts all relating to items in Sam's possession, and decided to investigate. Sam asks about how he is now Ace is gone and the Doctor is cagey about the issue, refusing to give Sam a proper answer. They eventually reach the TARDIS and the Doctor smiles before opening it... revealing the new interior to the audience for the first time too.

Katie steps in and is amazed as she looks around in disbelief... The Doctor chuckles as the two enter and says that the TARDIS should be able to give them some idea of where the government is holding the jewelled egg. The Doctor conducts a scan and manages to locate traces of it at a military base in Scotland. He then dematerialises the TARDIS... to Katie’s shock.

Soon after, the TARDIS arrives inside the military base. The Doctor, Katie and Sam step out, only to see a series of lasers appear in front of them and an alarm sound. Then, to make matters worse, a group of armed guards appears beyond the lasers. The Doctor clutches his umbrella and says "Ahhhh..."

Part Two

The Doctor, Katie and Sam are taken by the security guards to an office, where they are told to wait. During this time, Katie tries to formulate a plan to override security and continue into the compound. Sam says it’s far too dangerous and she’s being foolish. Katie remarks, “Foolish is my middle name, Daddy” to which he says, “No it’s not, it’s Raine”. Soon after, a small man in an army uniform with a cockney accent, Corporal Salter, enters the room and sits down in front of them. He says that he’s checked the records and that he’s now fully aware of exactly who the Doctor is and that he’d be delighted to give him a tour of the facility. The Doctor jumps up and says that’s excellent and tells Katie and Sam to come along. Salter stops them and says that they stay there, as they have no authorisation.

The Doctor and Salter leave the office as they begin a tour of the compound. Salter explains that he used to work for UNIT, back when he was Scientific Advisor, and lists off a bunch of events from the era. He then admits to the Doctor that he’s breaking several dozen rules letting him through security and he’s only doing it because he trusts him. The Doctor thanks Salter but asks why… what is so important about the compound. Salter says that this compound was set up privately by the government to hold the most dangerous extraterrestrial weapons, taking them out of the hands of organisations such as UNIT. He then explains, however, that he believes the government are up to something, as he’s noticed items vanishing from time to time with all record that they were ever at the facility also gone. The Doctor holds his umbrella up, showing off the question mark, while thinking. The two then come to the place where the jewelled egg should be… only to find it gone.

In the office, Katie picks at the lock, trying to force it open. Sam tells her to be gentle with it and that picking a lock is a delicate art. Katie snaps at him saying that she is capable of doing things on her own. Katie, still having no luck, stops for a moment, smiles, and then proceeds to pick it differently, and more calmly. The lock suddenly clicks and the door opens to which Sam smiles and tells her to follow him.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor and Salter scan for the whereabouts of the jewelled egg. Salter says that it was only there a few hours ago and that he saw it himself. Salter asks the Doctor what’s so special about the jewelled egg, to which the Doctor says that he’s the governor of a high-classified government security compound and he doesn’t know… The Doctor then explains that the jewelled egg, or as it’s really known the Virumun, is a very ancient and very deadly weapon… it has the power to remove things, objects, people or even entire planets from existence. Salter looks terrified and says, “and that’s what’s been stolen!”. The Doctor then explains that it’s powerless without a microfilament transponder wave generator, but that even the Ice Warriors couldn’t invent one of those. The Doctor then exclaims that he’s found a match and it seems to be in Birmingham. He then sets the TARDIS into flight and it dematerialises.

Katie and Sam sneak through the compound, avoiding the guards, as they search for the jewelled egg. Along the way, they spot a number of other very expensive looking items and quietly steal them, because “they might as well”. They search and search but can’t find the jewelled egg.

The TARDIS lands in a backstreet in Birmingham outside an incredibly anarchistic posh-looking private members club. The Doctor and Salter walk in, to which the receptionist asks their names. Salter says that he’s “Corporal Anthony Salter” and the Doctor jumps in and says his name is, in a very thick exaggerated Scottish accent, “Doctor Fergus Ansley McCarthy-Frazier”. The receptionist smiles and checks the members list saying that she doesn’t have any record of their membership. The Doctor then looks around and notices something unusual… a portrait of the club’s founder… Hans de Flores. The Doctor and Salter leave the club and go back into the TARDIS. The Doctor then tells Salter that he knows who stole the jewelled egg... A Neo-Nazi group, founded by one Hans de Flores. The Doctor explains that he encountered them a couple of years ago, during a run-in with the Cybermen, and that they must’ve remobilised and found some sort of “in” with the government. Salter says that this is indeed very troubling information and that the entire government could be compromised.

Katie and Sam conclude that the jewelled egg isn’t in the compound and that the Doctor and Salter seem to be gone. They quickly discuss what to do before they decide on breaking out, with their stolen items, and making their way back home. Elsewhere we see a group of security guards checking a list of items and looking at the shelves, seeing that (the ones Katie and Sam stole) are gone. They sound the alarms, causing a chase sequence to ensue, as the guards try and catch Katie and Sam.

Salter tells the Doctor that it’s of vital national importance that they get inside the club and the Doctor agrees. He says that he should be able to materialise the TARDIS inside, as long as he can get a better lock on the Virumun.

Katie and Sam just about make it out of the compound when a guard, Sergeant Becker, springs out in front of them. He holds out a gun and tells them to drop the bag. They do so and more guards join them. Becker grabs the bag and looks through it, saying its remarkable how they managed to choose about every item he had on his list.

The TARDIS lands inside the club, as a group of men dressed in SA brownshirt uniforms, grabs their guns and surround the TARDIS. The Doctor and Salter step out of the TARDIS. Salter then smiles.

Becker unzips his guard uniform to reveal that he, and the other guards at the compound, are wearing brownshirts and are working for the Fourth Reich.

Salter steps forward, to which the Doctor asks what he’s doing, before he turns around joining the guards, taking off his army uniform, to reveal a similar, more senior, SA uniform below. He then speaks loudly, in a German accent, telling the Doctor that the Virumun was just a lure and that now the Fourth Reich have in their possession… the greatest weapon of all. The camera zooms in on the TARDIS as Salter says: “We now posses time travel!”

Part Three

Inside the compound, Becker and his brownshirts continue to aim their guns at Katie and Sam. After a moment of pause, Katie shouts out in German (subtitled in English) “you boys have been doing a really great job, but now it’s time for the professionals to take over”… before turning sharply on her heel and telling Becker that she’s Unterführerin Tollinger and she’s been sent there, along with her assistant, to retrieve items directly for the Führer. Becker tells her that her German is excellent but he’s well aware that she’s not a member of their ranks raises arms once again. Katie says that it was worth a try to which Sam asks, in confusion, “since when did you speak German?”. Katie says, “You sent me to a bording school in Switzerland, try to keep up, Dad…”

Inside the TARDIS, Salter tells the Doctor to take him and his men back to the compound. The Doctor says the whole plan is a pointless exercise because they can’t just go back in time and just quietly change the course of history so that the Nazis won the Second World War. He says that it’s not as simple as that. He then asks what they suppose they’ll do… seriously. What is their “big” plan to change the outcome of the war? Salter laughs and then says it’s called the Virumun. The Doctor then reminds Salter that without a microfilament transponder wave generator, the Virumun is useless. Salter tells the Doctor that he thanks him for that information and soon he’ll have an entire compound of alien artefacts at his disposal to build one for them. Salter also tells the Doctor that there’s no point playing the fool, he really was at UNIT, and he knows just how skilled the Doctor is at this kind of thing.

The TARDIS lands in the compound, just saving Katie and Sam in the nick of time. Becker salutes Salter as he exits the TARDIS, his gun pointed in the Doctor’s back. Salter tells his men that the Doctor will be building them the final missing part of the Virumun. Katie tells the Doctor that he can’t, and these people are “literally Nazis”. The Doctor tells her that he has no choice but to do what the Corporal says. Salter corrects the Doctor and asks to be called Führer Salter. The Doctor tells Salter that if he’s going to do this, he’ll need Katie and Sam’s help. Salter agrees before telling the Doctor that he has three hours and leaving.

Left alone, but aware that they have guns trained on them, the Doctor catches Katie and Sam up with everything and says that he thinks Salter is planning to erase significant figures on the Allies’ side, during the Second World War, to change the course of the war, using the Virumun. The Doctor says not to worry because he has a plan. He asks Katie whether she could open “one more safe” for him. Katie cheekily smiles.

Katie approaches Salter and tells him that there’s another device the Doctor needs in order to complete the weapon and that she’s been asked to steal it. Salter says that if she goes with Becker and his men, then she, of course, can do so. Katie tells him that it needs to be just Becker, as they need to stay incognito.

Sometime later, Katie, dressed once again in an expensive designer dress, down a path with Becker, dressed in a designer suit, pretending to be a couple… it’s slowly revealed that the building they’re walking into is Balmoral Castle and a party is taking place. Katie asks Becker “how is your RP?” to which Becker responds in an RP accent saying it’s “absolutely spiffing”. They get to the door of the castle and Katie says that she’s Katie Tollinger, daughter of Sir Samuel Tollinger, friend of the Princess Royal, and Becker is her Plus One. The guard says “of course” and let’s her right in. Katie then remarks that sometimes having a rich dad really makes all the difference.

The Doctor and Sam continue to build the device, while they discuss Katie. Sam says that he struggles to connect with her, he says that she’s so independent and just wants more constantly. The Doctor says that she reminds him an awful lot of someone else… Sam soulfully nods saying that it makes it even the more painful.

Upstairs in Balmoral, Katie and Sam come to a heavily fortified door, which Katie easily picks the lock of, and inside they find a glass case and a crown inside. Katie says that it’s the Queen Mother’s crown and what they need is the Koh-i-Noor diamond that’s sat on it. Becker proceeds to grab the cage but suddenly lasers appear around it. Katie rolls her eyes and says and he needs to just leave her to it.

The Doctor just about completes the device and says they only need to Koh-i-Noor and it’ll be done. Salter impatiently comes toward them and asks when it’ll be ready. The Doctor repeats to him that it’s done and they’re just awaiting the diamond. Salter looks unhappy and says that Becker better hurry.

Katie intricately tries to get the Crown out of the case, without tripping any more alarms but she struggles with Becker watching over her. She says that he just needs to stand outside and guard or something because she can’t do it properly with him there. He argues but Katie asks if he really thinks she can escape him from the top of Balmoral Castle in its most secure room. Becker says that’s a good point and then proceeds to leave and wait outside. After a moment, Katie smiles before purposely tripping every alarm she can. In seconds, guards rush and arrest Katie and Becker and it’s not long until they find a swastika on Becker’s person.

Salter is told by a brownshirt that Katie and Becker have been arrested. He looks furious and stomps over to the Doctor and grabs the device. He points a gun at the Doctor and Sam and then herds them into the TARDIS. He tells the Doctor that he wants to go to England in 1943. The Doctor obliges and dematerialises the TARDIS.

Katie and Becker sit in a police interview room, as Becker gives her the evils the entire time. Once a police officer walks in, Katie explains to him that Becker is a Neo-Nazi and that she’s working with her father, Sir Samuel Tollinger, and a staff member at UNIT to bring them down and this was all a trap. The police officer just laughs in her face.

The TARDIS lands in 1943 and Salter steps out with the Virumun. He sets it on the ground, just in front of him, and tells the Doctor to hand him the microfilament transponder wave generator. The Doctor says that he’s making a mistake and Salter exclaims that he was right about the Koh-i-Noor being a diversion and that the device works just fine without it, considering the Doctor is so worried about him activating it. The Doctor and Sam step back into the TARDIS, slowly, as Salter combines the two devices. He then activates it, and it engulfs him as he screams. Slowly, Salter vanishes… from existence. Sam looks at the Doctor and says that was horrific. The Doctor explains that without the Koh-i-Noor, or just some sort of stabilising receptor, which he chuckles and says could’ve simply been the graphite in a pencil, the microfilament transponder wave generator was only a microfilament wave generator, thus causes it to backfire on Salter.

Some time later, the Doctor, Katie and Sam sit down drinking tea in the sitting room of Sam’s mansion. They are watching the news where there’s a report about a secret Neo-Nazi group being apprehended after they attempted to steal the Koh-i-Noor diamond from Balmoral Castle. Katie comments that she was in that cell for hours with Becker before UNIT came to her rescue. The Doctor apologises but says it was the only way to bring down the whole operation. The Doctor and Katie have a good laugh about it before Sam looks over at Katie giving her a bit of a nudge. Katie then asks the Doctor, rather uncharacteristically shyly, if she could join him on his adventures. The Doctor jumps up out of his chair, spilling his tea, and grabs her hand saying of course and drags her into the TARDIS. He then pops his head out of the door and says goodbye to Sam, before closes it again as the TARDIS dematerialises.

Cast

Crew

Writer - Kevin Clarke
Producer - John Nathan-Turner
Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
Director - Alan Wareing
Lighting - Ian Dow
Designer - David Laskey
Visual Effects Designers - Malcom James, Dave Chapman
Make-Up Designer - Joan Stribling
Casting Director - Anne Henderson
Music - Mark Ayres
Costume Designer - Ken Trew
Edited by - Hugh Parson
Vision Mixer - Dinah Long
Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer
Title Music - Keff McCulloch
Title Sequence by CAL Video

Memorable Quotes

To be added.

Background Information

Production History

To be added.

Development

The story for Crime of the Century began as an idea for a sequel, by Kevin Clarke, to his first (and only) Doctor Who story, Silver Nemesis. The idea was about the remnants of de Florres' Fourth Reich using an ancient weapon in UNIT's vaults to change the course of the Second World War. The idea, while briefly considered by Cartmel, was dropped very early on and it was only after other plans fell through that Cartmel revisited it, with the (now) added stipulation that it had to introduce a new companion, in the form of Katie Tollinger, be set in a mansion and include an opening scene of the Doctor in a safe, which Cartmel had already come up with.
Following the first draft, Cartmel suddenly hit on the idea of linking up Crime of the Century, and it's predecesor, Ice Time, into a psuedo 7-part adventure, with the Katie's father becoming Sam from Ice Time (and his surname changing to Tollinger accordingly) and the primary plot mcguffin being linked to Ice Time as well.

Production

The most significant aspect of Crime of the Century's production was that it introduced a brand new TARDIS interior for the series. By the end of Season 25, the TARDIS set had practically fallen apart, so in Season 26, due to a lack of money, the inside of the TARDIS didn't really feature. For Season 27, John Nathan-Turner managed to organise things so that a new TARDIS interior could be built, debuting in Crime of the Century but shot as part of the studio shoot for the following serial, Blood and Iron, as Crime of the Century was designated to be all-location. Originally, Blood and Iron was going to feature the debut of the interior, but Cartmel wished to be able to show Katie's first reaction to the TARDIS, so it was moved a story earlier. The set was designed by Mike Tucker and featured the unique feature of the TARDIS' central column suspended from the ceiling. The set was built so that the height of the console could be adjusted based on who was using it, future-proofing it for the next actor to play the Doctor..
The actual story itself became prone to John Nathan-Turner's often desire to stunt cast guest roles. From Beryl Reid in Earthshock to Nicholas Parsons in The Curse of Fenric, and everything in between, Nathan-Turner loved casting famous faces, especially to the BBC One Light-Entertainment viewer, in rather unexpected Doctor Who roles. This time actor and comedian David Jason, best known for his roles in, sitcoms, Open All Hours & Only Fools and Horses, was cast as Corporal/Führer Anthony Salter, the main villain for the story. Jason was required to play a loveable cockney army officer and then transform into a Nazi with a German accent. Jason indeed rose to the challenge but he certainly didn't play it straight, instead sending up the role, chewing the sceneary at every turn and, on set, spent most of it messing about with Sylvester McCoy.
Although only in one scene, the set for the Tollinger's sitting room had a lot of money spent on it due to the fact that Cartmel intended the Tollinger's house to be a recurring set, from the next season, becoming a "base of operations" for the Doctor and Katie, a bit like the Doctor's lab back in the Pertwee years. Cartmel wasn't to know that perhaps the incoming production team had different plans...

Post-Production

To be added.

Reaction

Official BARB ratings: 5.2m for Part One, 5.1m for Part Two and 4.9m for Part Three.

Story Notes

This story marks the first appearance of Julia Sawalha as an adult version of Katie Tollinger.
This story features the return of the Fourth Reich, who first appeared in the Season 25 story Silver Nemesis.
This is the second and final story to be written by Kevin Clarke.
This story features the first appearance of a new TARDIS console room, which would be used throughout the Griffiths era.

Continuity

Katie Tollinger was delivered by the Doctor in London on 7 November 1967. Twenty-three years before the events of this story. From the Doctor's perspective, those events occurred immediately before his encounter with the adult Katie in 1990. (DW: Ice Time),
The Doctor previously encountered members of the Fourth Reich in 1988 Windsor. (DW: Silver Nemesis)

Home Video Releases

To be added.